Sara Shneiderman

Sara Shneiderman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs/Institute of Asian Research. Her work focuses on citizenship, belonging, and social transformation in the Himalayas and South Asia.

• Education: PhD and MA from Cornell University (2009, 2004), BA with Honors from Brown University (1997)
• Previous Positions: Assistant Professor at Yale University (2011-2014), Research Fellow at University of Cambridge (2009-2011)

Research Interests include:

• Citizenship and cross-border mobility
• Disaster aftermath and preparedness
• Development discourses and practices
• Ethnicity, gender, and Indigenous knowledge

Recent Publications analyze post-disaster governance, financialization of disasters, and kinship dynamics in Nepal. She co-edited Darjeeling Reconsidered: Histories, Politics, Environments (OUP, 2018).

Scientific Awards include grants from SSHRC, Wenner-Gren Foundation, NSF, and ACLS/Mellon. She declined multiple fellowships but maintains active research funding.

Teaching and Supervision: Supervises doctoral students and coordinates UBC Himalaya Program’s language courses (Nepali/Tibetan). Led TLEF grants for community-engaged teaching.

Labs and Initiatives: Founding member of the Digital Himalaya Project and collaborator in infrastructure research with University of Toronto and Yale.